01. Introduction

== W e l c o m e -- t o -- t h e -- w o r l d -- o f ==


Where do we go when we die?

This is a question that has haunted us all from time to time, from the most intellectual philosopher to the most devout spiritualist to the ordinary blue-collar worker. From the marble-lined halls of the richest men alive to the lowly dirt shacks of the ditchdiggers, the only thing all humans have in common is that we're all going to die one day. And so, being that we, as humans, fear death nonexistence more than anything, naturally theories and beliefs and even entire religions have sprung up all over the world, based upon the idea that something comes... after death. None of these, by their nature, can ever be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, though. Leaving death the greatest mystery in the entire spectrum of human knowledge. To most.

Here's a secret:

The afterlife is real.

And those who are most sensitive to the workings of the spirit know this. There are some who can see the dead, their broken Chains of Fate still anchored to their chests. If these ghosts are lucky, they will come across one of the thousands of sword-carrying, kimono-wearing warriors that police the world, invisible to the normal human eye. With but a touch from the pommel of their blades, these "Shinigami" send these newly deceased spirits to the next world - a wide world of relative peace and stability called Soul Society.

Those ghosts that are unlucky, though... Those who die in remote, distant areas. Those who remain attached to the world. Those who become violent and despair-stricken toward their deaths. These ghosts remain in the world as their Chains of Fate rot and corrode away, along with their sanity. Once the Chain of Fate is gone completely, a horrible transformation occurs. Their bodies mutate and a white substance flows from their noses and mouths, hardening into a monstrous, terrifying mask. They rampage, kill, destroy... devouring human souls in a futile attempt to the empty hole that ever remains inside them.

These bestial, mindless killing machines are known as "Hollows." And that is a Shinigami's second duty - to slay these Hollows and protect humans from their rage. Once a Hollow is slain by a Shinigami's blade, the human soul inside is released to be judged and sent to either Soul Society or Hell.

Shinigami come from all corners of Soul Society. Some were born there, either in the mighty walled city of Seireitei that rises in the center of the world, or in the vast reaches of Rukongai, that extends in all directions, as far as anyone in Soul Society has ever explored. Some were once mortal souls who died on Earth, were Soul Buried, and found their calling in the arts of swordplay and spirit magic.

The ranks of the Shinigami are as unusual and varied as they come. Most serve within the Gotei 13, a military organization lead by the legendary General Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai and his twelve other Division Captains. And to enter the Gotei, one must first spend some years training.

And as varied as Shinigami are, so are the reasons a Shinigami Cadet enters the Academy.

So. What is your reason?

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-=- 01. Introduction -=- 02. Character Creation ==>